Houndoom's Flames
by Tainted-Oddity
Summary: A late night encounter with a mysterious and disfigured trainer will bring an unforseen and sad fate to a trainer and his pokemon... One-shot. Sad fic.


Delibird...

So many times I had been told by the cops not to travel at night, for dangerous things used to roam the area. Sure, many strong pokemons come out only at night, and it's awefully easy to get lost when it's dark. Yet, I always thought I was safe with my trusty delibird by my side. He was strong, protective, caring, and so was I toward him.  
...but still, I should have listened to the cops' warnings.

I had been traveling around the region countless of times at night, but the strangest thing I've ever encountered was on route 7... the smallest route of them all. I didn't think there were any risks about it, for I only needed to get from Celadon to my Hotel in Saffron. As soon as I jumped down the cliff I was stopped by a trainer...

Although the summer's heat was at its strongest, he was wearing long clothing, with only his hands and head visible. He looked miserable. He was bald, and his skin was deeply burnt. His nose, ears, and eyelids had melt, and most of his face was covered in thick scars. His hands were also deformed. The simple view of someone so badly injured deeply disturbed me, yet I was incredibly saddened by his condition. The poor guy... he was probably the survivor of a burn somewhere and tried to get back to a normal life as a pokemon trainer.  
He wanted to battle, but I was in a hurry: my Hotel would soon close its door for the night. I appologised and explained this to him, but he insisted.

...and I accepted. I felt so bad for him, if battling him was a way I could make his life a little happier, I would be a jerk to refuse.  
My respect for him grew even stronger as I saw the pokemon he sent out.

Houndoom.

Houndooms are known to be vicious and dangerous pokemon to a point where even Gym Leaders preach against even trying to catch one. This guy had one by his side, I can not imagine what he might have gone through just to get him. Those burns... that's probably how he'd got them in the first place. That was true courage and devotion.  
So we fought. My delibird against his houndoom.

We fought hard, and the battle ended with houndoom leaving my pokemon near fainting with fireblast, and delibird subsequently knocking him off with focus punch. The other trainer called his houndoom back and thanked me for the battle. I called delibird back to carry him over to the Pokemon Center to heal his burns and wounds, and we both parted ways.  
I quickly made my way to Saffron City's Pokemon Center and gave his pokeball to the nurse.

I waited.

I waited longer.

I was starting to get worried. Delibird had not even fainted, why would his healing take so much time?  
After some time the nurse came out and talked to me.

_"Humm, your delibird... what attacked him?"_

_"We only fought a houndoom."_ I answered, surprised by her question.

She got a worried look on her face.

_"That's what I feared."_

My heart started racing.

_"W-what do you mean? Is he allright?"_ I shouted as I stood up.

The nurse looked down and asked me to come inside the surgery room.  
Delibird was lying on the table, and although he had no more apparent wounds, he was shaking and crying as if he was still in pain. I stood there, my mouth wide open in confusion. I did not understand what was going on.

The nurse walked to my side and asked me the most dreaded question...

_"There is nothing we can do... we need your authorisation to put him to sleep and end his suffering."_

I swiftly turned to face her and grabbed her shoulders.

_"What do you mean there's nothing you can do?"_

She did not answer and kept staring into my eyes with the same serious and concerned look. I slid my hand into my pocket and reached for my pokedex. I checked the information on houndoom:  
_"The flame it breathes is actually a volatile poison it produces internally that ignites when exposed to air. If you are burned by the flames it shoots from its mouth, the pain will never go away."_

I read again.  
_"The pain will never go away."_

And the next thing that appeared in my mind was the burnt face of the trainer...


End file.
